I’d anticipated budget day more eagerly this year than in the past. Would it be a budget for economic recovery or an election winner? Would Social Enterprise and indeed the SME sector in general win any favours or would we be at best no worse off and at worst paying for the vote-winning crumbs thrown to the elderly via heating allowance…not that I’ve anything against the elderly, you understand!

The dust is beginning to settle now and I’m struck by some key figures that are beginning to emerge. For instance John Denham, the Communities Secretary, says that he can save £1.2bn a year by cutting the duplication of local services and has said that if Local Authorities can prove that they are saving money then they can keep some of those savings. That sounds like an incentive that those of us who have an entrepreneurial mind-set would jump at and I wonder just how many Local Authorities would be better run as a Social Enterprise. But that’s me all over…I think that the world would be a better place if every business were a social business.

One thing that interested me though was the instant response to the budget. The Financial Times claimed that over 11,000 tweets were recorded during the speech itself and a Facebook site protesting against the rise in tax on cider was very quickly established…clearly predictions of the first Social Media election weren’t far wrong!

But, back to the normal routine now and life at the helm of a growing Social Enterprise is never dull. This week has included discussions with a potential investor…a high net worth individual who may be interested in financing our expansion plans, talks with our corporate partner about the number of jobs they will guarantee for those trainees graduating from our soon to be launched pre-employment academy and my business partner and I are key note speakers at an awards event later today. As always, you can find out more about the work and vision of The Create Foundation on our website.

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About Sarah Dunwell

Sarah Dunwell is executive director of Arena Partners and has twenty years experience in the corporate and business sector. After a number of senior roles in customer service and retail management, Sarah led her own successful catering business and is experienced in business turn around and SME growth.
Sarah has a particular interest in the role of robust business planning and development in the not-for-profit sector. Her passion lies in seeing social businesses grow successfully and sustainably through creating mature businesses that deliver strong social agendas.